Off the British Path

iwantsummerdays asked: you have to visit Bordeaux (in France)!

I’ll definitely take a look at it :) Thanks!!

whereemile-johnlives asked: I'm British and I'm really intrigued by your blog. I hope you have a nice stay :)

Oh you’re so sweet! Thank you so much :) And believe me, if I ever get there, I will have the time of my life!

taoayumu:

 

In anticipation of her royal coronation ceremony at Kensington Palace on October 2, Rapunzel has arrived in London and is touring various historical locations this week. Her first stop is the Salt Tower at the Tower of London, where her hair can currently be spotted draping down, awaiting the arrival of her true love, Flynn Rider. She has promised to send along photos of her other stops in town this week, so be sure to check back right here for additional photos from the soon-to-be Disney Princess.

Although the ceremony at Kensington Castle is by invite only. On October 2, the public is invited to partake in the momentous event by viewing the Disney Princess procession as it marches from Queen’s Gate, beginning at 1 pm GMT. For more information and to obtain a copy of the map, visit the official Rapunzel Celebration page.

And be sure to bookmark this page as Rapunzel sends us more photos from her London adventure!

 

(via snowsomewhere)

feliix-felicis:

09. The Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley
Location: Leadenhall Market
Just across London Bridge you’ll find Leadenhall Market, an ornate Victorian emporium of all things fruit, veg and meat. It’s a second home to Diagon Alley, with exterior shots of the market appearing in The Philosopher’s Stone. Hagrid and Harry enter the fantastical thoroughfare via Glass House Opticians, which you can still find at 42 Bull’s Head Passage. You can even buy a broomstick at Leadenhall, although it probably won’t be a Nimbus 2000. From Leadenhall, Potter completists will want to head up to Lincoln’s Inn Fields to find the home of Sirius Black, 12 Grimauld Place, which is not as unplottable as all that.

(via heartstring-hum)

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02. Platform 9 3/4
Location: Kings Cross Station
…That handy train line will then whisk you straight to Kings Cross, the bustling terminus at which Harry, Hermione, Ron and friends board the Hogwarts’ Express. Obviously, Platform 9 3/4 doesn’t really exist (sorry kids) but there is a bronze plaque marking the spot where it would stand, and a luggage cart halfway through the wall that’s ideal for photo ops. In a parallel world, Harry and co. would have boarded the train just down the road, at the station J.K. Rowling was visualising when she wrote the book (“I was actually thinking of Euston,” she told the BBC, “so anyone who’s been to the real platforms 9 and 10 in King’s Cross will realise they don’t bear a great resemblance to the platforms in the book”). The exteriors are different too - Harry and Ron’s Ford Anglia ride began next door outside the much more scenic St. Pancras. If they’d boarded the train there, they’d have ended up in Paris.

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12. Hogwarts Great Hall
Location: Christ Church College, Oxford
Oxford stood in for Hogwarts’s gothic halls and stairways, giving Rupert Grint and co. the chance to squeeze in a little punting, the odd Radiohead gig and a pint of two of foaming non-alcholic ale between takes (all that Dark Art-battling beneath the dreaming spires is thirsty work). Christ Church was used for many of Hogwarts’ interiors and stairways, while its ancient dining hall was recreated at Leavesden as Hogwarts’ Great Hall. If you’re looking for the spot where Malfoy was turned into a ferret, that’s down the road at New College.

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13. Hogwarts Library
Location: Bodleian Library, Oxford
Just a short cobbled stroll away across Radcliffe Square is Oxford University’s ancient book depository, the Bodleian, which you’ll recognise as the place where Harry and co. get down to the serious business of swotting for their N.E.W.T.s., Hogwarts Library. Next door is the Divinity School, a medieval edifice that doubled up as Hogwarts’ sanatorium in the first four movies. Its Gothic ceiling boasts enough beasts and creatures to make even Hagrid leap from his skin. It’s open to the public all year round. Dress code: Scholars’ gowns rather than invisibility cloaks. Sub fusc optional.

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14. Hogwarts/Godric’s Hollow
Location: Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire
Often used for telly costume dramas, the Abbey at Lacock, just down the road from Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire, appeared in The Philosopher’s Stone and The Half-Blood Prince. Not only are Quirinus Quirrel’s classroom and Severus Snape’s laboratory found here, but the cloisters - dating all the way back to 1232 - were stalked by Argus Filch and his scrawny cat, Mrs. Norris. The neighbouring village of Lacock was the inspiration for Godric’s Hollow and was used for filming The Half-Blood Prince, although for The Deathly Hallows production shifted to Lavenham in Suffolk (presumably it was easier for Nagini to get to).

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16. Hogsmeade Station
Location: Goathland Station, North Yorkshire
The Hogwart’s Express finishes its journey not in Scotland but North Yorkshire. “I’m reasonably up to speed on Harry Potter now,” says John Bruce, Station Master of Goathland, the real Hogsmeade Station, which can be found near Whitby. “People do recognise the station. We get quite a lot of visitors, many of them are French or Japanese youngsters.” Steam trains run through Goathland every day during the summer. Despite leaving from the same terminus, getting there is a trickier business than Harry’s journey to Hogsmeade, explains Bruce: “You have to go from Kings Cross to Darlington, Middlesbrough and then down Whitby line, with one change.”

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17. Hogwarts School - Mrs. McGonagall’s Office
Location: Durham Cathedral
Next stop is Minerva McGonagall’s (Maggie Smith) classroom, located in the depths of Durham Cathedral’s Chapter House. Dating back to Norman times, the cathedral was a suitably ancient surrogate for Harry’s 9th century secondary school, with cast, crew, owls and baboons descending on it for The Philosopher’s Stone and The Chamber Of Secrets. The Chapter House itself isn’t open to the public, so unless you can Animagus yourself in, the Cathedral cloisters are the next best thing. It was here that Harry took Hedwig the owl for a spin.

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